Demeanor and Arrest: Additional Evidence from Previously Unpublished Data

Abstract

Across more than four decades of previous research, social scientists have reported that demeanor and other extralegal factors shape police actions such as arrest. Recently, however, Klinger has asserted that all previous research is suspect because it failed to control for crime and failed to limit demeanor to legally permissible words and displays of hostility. The present research further probes this issue using previously unpublished data. The key findings are several. Demeanor matters when it is limited to legally permissible words and displays of hostility and when crime is partially controlled, although the effects of demeanor vary with how it is represented. Other extralegal variables, especially race and class, also matter. This analysis therefore provides little reason for questioning the agreement reached over four decades that demeanor and other extralegal variables shape police actions.

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